As far as its record goes, Mount Paran Christian had a down year in football last fall.

After posting three straight winning seasons and making consecutive state playoff appearances in 2010 and 2011, the Eagles went 3-7 after losing their first four games of the year.

Although the team didn’t shine as a whole, senior running back Kyle Trammell did give fans something to cheer about. The transfer from McEachern had 183 carries for 1,194 yards and seven touchdowns, setting a single-season team record for rushing yards.

Those numbers, which included 18 receptions for 196 yards and three touchdowns, as well as his attitude and work ethic, helped Trammell garner attention from college football coaches, and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound standout recently committed to the U.S. Air Force Academy a few days before National Signing Day.

Trammell would be the second Mount Paran football player to sign with a Football Bowl Subdivision team in the program’s brief history. Lineman and defensive end Brian Johnstone committed to Air Force after the 2010 season, but a knee injury prevented him from attending the academy.

“I don’t foresee Kyle having any problems signing with Air Force,” Mount Paran coach Mitch Jordan said. “He should have a great career there. He has a lot of upside and could be a 220-pound kid by the time he leaves there, if he gets after it in the weight room.

“He has good speed, but not great speed because he hadn’t really worked at it, but he has great vision, great balance and he runs hard with power.”

Trammell, who also had offers from second-tier Samford and Furman, began his high school career playing football and baseball as a freshman and sophomore at McEachern. He sat out football during his junior year at McEachern to focus on baseball, but he went back to playing football as a senior when he moved to Mount Paran.

Trammell’s athleticism was evident from the start as Jordan tailored the offense around his dynamic and talented new player. Trammell also played outside linebacker for the Eagles and saw time as the kick and punt returner.

“He played wide receiver for most of his career, so this was his first time playing a lot of running back,” Jordan said. “He was a tailback for us out of the ‘I’ because we wanted to get him the ball more and to both sides of the formation.

“He rarely came off the field because he was on punt and kick return, and he has great hands from playing receiver, so we used him there, too.”

This season, Trammell expanded his athletic talents to include wrestling. According to Jordan, Trammell has shown success in his new sport and has a chance to represent Mount Paran at the state tournament with the strong performance in today’s Area 3A traditional tournament.

Trammell is also expected to join the Mount Paran baseball team as an outfielder.

“He’s an outstanding baseball player,” Jordan said. “He’s played that for four years, so he has great ball-tracking skills, which also helped him as a receiver.

“He’s at the right place. He just needs to get acclimated to the environment over there his first year. After that, I think he’ll have a successful career at Air Force.”

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